Teach Me 2 Safety Policy Tutor Safety

This Safety Policy is in line with national child-protection legislation (Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act (No. 32 of 2007)), and is endorsed by Connect Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to the safety of at-risk women and children.

What we do to keep our tutors & clients safe

1. The screening of our clients (to protect our tutors)

All clients are requested to supply us with their physical address and ID no.

We also require upfront payment to ensure our clients are legitimate.

2. The screening of our tutors (to protect our clients)

We gather each applicant’s contact details, physical address, education history and two references

Tutors are screened against the National Register for Sexual Offenders (NRSO) by a partner organization – The Guardian – or by going to their local police station to obtain a Police Clearance Certificate. This is enforced only for the tutoring of minors (under 18).

3. The selection of tutors for a job

Our Tuition Managers review tutor applications for each job, selecting the most appropriate (based on gender, age, location, and other relevant factors)

If you are a female tutor tutoring a male adult (over 18) you will be briefed as to the situation before you are asked to accept the job. If you decide to accept the job you must also please notify your next of kin as to the lesson time and whereabouts of each lesson.

We endeavour to make sure that the client lives within a 10-15km radius of your home.

4. The management of the tutoring process

We only disclose your contact details to the client once you’ve accepted the job and the Lesson Schedule is being sent to the client.

After the first lesson we will make contact with you and client to ensure that everyone was happy with the lesson.

If a client is unhappy with a tutor, or vice versa, we endeavour to change the tutor first, failing which we stop future lessons and refund the client

What you can do to keep safe

1. Be aware of the risks

For a start, it’s important for you to be aware of the possible risks associated with private tutoring. While we make every effort to mitigate any risks, it’s important to be aware of them and take active steps to protect yourself.

These are a few of the risks that we’ve identified:

Risks involved with travelling to unsafe areas

Damage to musical instruments

Stalking or inappropriate messaging

Bogus clients with sinister intentions

Theft

Sexual harassment

Other serious crimes

2. Be vigilant

Female tutors must always inform their next of kin of their whereabouts and their expected time of return and may only tutor male learners beyond undergrad age if the tutoring occurs in a public place until the tutor feels safe being around the client.

3. Take action

We also strongly recommend that if you feel uncomfortable about any aspect of your tutoring assignment that you notify your Tuition Manager immediately and/or take any additional steps you deem necessary, which might include contacting the authorities, such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), or a next of kin.

Go to your nearest police station and complete the application form for Police Clearance. You will need to provide a full set of fingerprints, your full name, surname, date and place of birth, your original ID, a copy of your ID and R59 in cash.

Your complete application will then need to be posted to the Criminal Record Centre in Pretoria (some police stations will insist that you post the completed application to Pretoria yourself. If so, send it via regular mail with a tracking number.

Keep your cash receipt as proof that you have applied for your PCC.

When you receive your certificate in the post (this can take up to 6 weeks), upload it to your profile.